Surveying is an important activity used in building plans, zoning, property sales, and other various activities. Surveying can be used to determine boundaries as well as measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes while operating at construction sites. Engineers depend on surveying equipment for analyzing the stability for these structures. It is crucial for the integrity of a building or other structure that these measurements used in design planning or blueprints is accurate. The need for accuracy requires the surveying equipment to act in a predictable and precise manner. Because surveying requires precision, surveyors demand an apparatus that can hold measuring tools such as theodolites, 3D scanners, total stations, levels or transits, steady during measurement calculations. Even the slightest movement of the measuring tools can lead to vibration or other anomalies that greatly impact the readings and can result in various inaccuracies.
To achieve greater accuracy during surveying multi-legged stands or tripods are used to provide a foundation for the measuring tools. Tripods are typically portable and offer support and stability along both the side-to-side and up-and-down axis of motion. With adjustable legs, tripods are also suitable for outdoor landscapes or other areas with uneven ground. In order to achieve the instrument specified accuracy it is vital that the correct tripod is used. The construction and weight of the tripod have a major influence on providing a stable platform for the instrument. It is important that the tripods are capable of holding the weight of the measuring tools without collapsing or warping when holding excessive weight for long periods of time. The tripod also needs to be stable when subjected to various rotational forces from moving the measuring tools and tripod head plates around the tripod. Currently available tripods do no fully eliminate vibration or adequately secure the support platform in a rigid, fixed state or on the other hand require specialized preparation and present intrusive installation issues.